Hyde tapped his chin with the pencil in his hand trying to wrap his head around the math problem in his textbook. Half of the problem was solved in his notebook and he had notes to refer back to but he knew a key part was missing from the equation.

"Hey Hyde."

This time joining him behind the counter were Hoka and Cran, on both sides of him respectively. That was only because Hoka was trying to stay away from Cran who was holding up a sailor uniform with a red collar and skirt.

"Hoka would look great in this right? Sailor uniforms bring out a girl's adolescents in bold. The loose fitting top that when looked at from a certain angle, you can see their skin and the skirt is just high enough to reveal the elegant hourglass curve of a girl's body." Cran ranted on "It's cute yet revealing without being revealing! Truly this is a marvel of human invention."

Hoka gripped Hyde's arm tighter. Hyde could practically hear her saying 'Baka! Baka pervert!' If she could speak. Thankfully the injury she suffered spared him from that loud torture. Hoka gripped him even tighter which was her way of signaling for him to do something.

Hyde groaned and lowered his pencil, turning to Cran "Baka pervert." He said bluntly.

But it was enough to make Cran sink. "And here I thought we saw eye to eye." He moaned like a child.

Hoka mocked him further by sticking her tongue out to which Cran responded by rolling his sleeves up. "Oh yeah!?"

Hoka hopped over the counter to run and Cran chased after her, accidentally hitting Hyde in the head making him face plant into his textbook. "I'll make Yamiko force you to wear this!" His voice grew lower in the distance.

Lambda approached Hyde with a sneer on her face. "Wow, your life must suck." She teased.

Hyde lifted his head with an eye twitch, "You know me so well."

Lambda placed her hands on her hips. "Lighten up a bit. You could be out there risking your life fighting some dude who likes using magic to peep on girls or sumthin'."

"That sounds way more exciting."

Lambda flinched "You're a peeping tom?!"

"Not that part!" Hyde snapped back.

Lambda then noticed the problem he was facing in his notebook and snapped her fingers "You stuck on that? I know a lot of people who get stuck on solving those equations."

She snatched the pencil from his hand and began scribbling in his notebook. Her efficiency in solving the problem was way beyond a child's, but Lambda wasn't an ordinary girl.

She playfully rubbed her head "My parents are super duper smart scientists. They teach me stuff all the time."

"I'm guessing that's why Midare took you in this agency." Hyde said while closing the textbook.

Lambda rubbed her nose "Heh! That's right! My mom and Midare go way back and she wanted me to help out with the agency's technical side. I'm also really good at making weapons for you guys to use too. I'm pretty important you see."

Important? As if.

She wasn't on the front lines and getting pushed around by Midare like Hyde was. He and the others had it worse compared to the other members.

Their talk was interrupted by Kamui taking a seat at the counter. Hyde was shocked he would visit of all people but the recent influx of happenings foretold this situation.

Kamui lifted his fedora slightly with a smile similar to an old man's, not that he was young but his smile had an ancient quality to it. "We had an investigation nearby and there were many places I was interested in settling in. This cafe's coffee has something special about it. I can still remember the first time I was here."

He must've been here before Hyde joined the agency. A long long time ago.

Lambda raised her finger "Want a drink? We can make a blend that'll blow your socks off!"

Kamui nodded. "That would be nice. I was curious if Midare was training you newcomers how to run a cafe."

"Yeah… it took some time to adjust." Hyde said before assisting Lambda in making coffee. Truth is that they were thrown into the cafe side of things without much training. They had to learn through observing Levin and Syrup how to manage the cafe from behind the counter. They performed effortlessly and shifted between taking orders and serving customers all with a smile on their face. Now they were reduced to being a janitor for the agency since Hyde and others took their place.

They weren't upset about it since they could finally take a load off but occasionally Midare would dump a massive workload on them just because she wasn't in the mood for dealing with what she considered menial tasks.

"How's this?" Hyde placed the cup and saucer on the counter and nudged it towards Kamui. He grasped the handle of the small cup. "A cappuccino this time eh?"

"You can tell?" Lambda said rather surprised.

Kamui nodded slowly. "Midare was kind enough to clarify the different types of coffee for me. Normally I order plain black but she often called people who ordered that 'sissys in disguise'. "

That sounds like something she would say. Hyde couldn't help but smirk at the thought of Midare calling Kamui a sissy.

"She gave me a drink of vodka mixed with coffee powder and milk. I believe she called it Russian white? Either that or a drink from Mariellir. The taste was exotic but the sharp taste of vodka was mellowed out by the cold milk and cream on top." Kamui said before a grin grew on his face.

"That woman knows her drinks well."

Lambda and Hyde glanced at each other as Kamui took a sip of his coffee. They weren't allowed to mix alcohol in fear of them accidentally using too much and getting a customer drunk but they were allowed to serve alcohol by itself. It was a weird rule Midare had but Hyde wasn't complaining, he didn't know the difference between alcoholic drinks.

Kamui returned the cup to the saucer quietly saying "Sweet. Midare always likes her drinks to be sweet."

"Sweet things can always brighten up someone's day!" Lambda proudly exclaimed. "Even adults enjoy candy."

"Indeed." Kamui added, "The entrance of the building I work at has a cup of lollipops on the receptionist's desk. I can't help but take one after I return from a long investigation."

Lambda's eyes sparkled like stars "Maybe we should do that too."

"Being a cafe is enough work as is." Hyde shrugged.

"Yes, candy is just a minor pleasure in my life rather than a convenience. If it were then the crime scene would always be on my mind." Kamui commented before taking another sip of his drink.

Cran and Hoka returned with frizzled hair. Hoka was nudged forward covering her face with her hands as Cran had succeeded in making her put on the sailor uniform at a cost. He was covered in scratches and deep bite marks. To him, it was totally worth it.

"Look at this cutie!" Cran exclaimed as he shook Hoka side to side. The girl's face was beet red and she was too embarrassed to move her hands away from her face in front of Hyde.

Hyde had to admit she looked really cute. Her oversized sleeves nearly covered her small hands, the loose sailor top that reached where the skirt began, and the skirt that was just the right size to show off her long legs in black thigh high socks. Still, She must've suffered a lot being forced to wear the outfit by Cran.

"Cran…" Hyde narrowed his eyes in disbelief.

Cran nervously flashed a smirk "Hey don't give me that look. I know deep down that you agree with me. Lambda agrees, right?"

Lambda scratched her head "Yeah b-but… there are better ways to do this than making a little girl cry."

"Oi oi, what's going on here." Levin approached with a broom in hand. "Who's making little girls cry?"

Lambda and Hyde's eyes darted to Cran who let out a small chuckle.

"It's nothing big Levin. Just a minor brawl I got caught up in."

Levin eyed his scars and noticed Hoka covering her embarrassed face. He pieced together that obviously something wasn't right but he chose not to pry further. "Alright...then. What an interesting choice of apparel."

Kamui agreed "It is. I could see Yulie wearing it. Voluntarily of course."

That's a name Hyde never heard of. Did they get a new recruit..? Wait!

Yulie must be the name of that sword that transformed into a girl he and Lloyd encountered. The same girl who tipped them on Morren.

Cran had his eyes set on Kamui for a few seconds. The investigator kept his gaze on his nearly empty cup in an attempt to avoid looking back at Cran.

Kamui sipped down the last of his drink and stood out of his seat. "It was a pleasure talking with you all but I must return to my duties. I bid you detectives farewell." He tipped his hat and left the cafe.

"I wonder why he came to visit." Levin asked himself before walking away without an answer.

Lambda grabbed the empty glass and saucer. "You can leave this to me Hyde. You should take Hoka back to the dormitory and visit Yamiko to see if she is well."

Hyde untied his apron and tossed it to Cran before hopping over the counter stylishly. He grabbed Hoka's hand about to leave.

"Hey Hyde," Levin called, which made him stop in his tracks. "Keep your chin up. The present will always be the most important part of life."

Hyde didn't fully understand it but whatever...

He walked with the girl back to the dormitory. Hoka would stick her tongue out at Cran one last time before they left the cafe.

"Tch! Alright kid I'll let that slide this time." Cran dropped a sweat.

────── 〔✿〕──────

The dormitory was relatively back to normal. Hoka and Hyde were greeted by Yamiko sitting behind her signature desk. Normally she would be playing the piano in the back of the lobby but now Mary occupied that spot, still practicing with few mistimed keys in her song which was more upbeat than the somber song Yamiko played.

Suddenly Hoka hid behind Hyde which confused him until he looked down by his feet where a small husky was sniffing his shoes. The puppy then let out a friendly bark.

"Hah, scared of dogs?" Hyde asked, looking back at Hoka.

Yamiko, blindfolded with a magazine in her hands, responded in a formal manner. Her long pauses between words were gone. "His name is Deadly. I bought him from home to help me find my way around places."

"Then how are you..?"

Yamiko lifted a finger to her mouth "That is a classified secret."

Seems like she had a lot underneath the surface like Midare. "I understand."

Hoka kneeled down and hesitated to pet Deadly. The dog didn't bark or move as to not scare the young girl. Her fears subsided when Deadly allowed her to pat him, contrary to his name.

Hyde left those two to bond a little while he walked over to Mary who stopped playing at his arrival.

"You're slightly less bad at this." He said bluntly.

Mary dropped a sweat "Thanks…"

She lowered her head "Um… about the other day… I'm sorry."

Hyde tilted his head slightly "Sorry for..?"

"For y'know…" Mary's face flushed red, too embarrassed to say it outloud. Hyde decide to take a page from Midare's book and played dumb. "What are you talking about?"

"Ugh!" Mary stood up making her chair nearly fall over "I'm sorry for being such a klutz! I've been acting unfair to you the past few days and I'm-" when she tried to bow in Hyde's direction she accidentally bumped her head into his chest knocking the wind out of him.

It had to be karma. Mary was hard headed, literally! "That's gonna...hurt for awhile." Hyde wanted to fall over but Mary held him by his shoulders apologizing profusely.

"You don't have to apologize so much." Hyde stepped back. "Just don't act like that again."

"I promise I won't!" Mary exclaimed happily.

From afar Yamiko watched the scene. She flipped a page of her magazine. "They get along strangely well. I wonder if that'll change once she knows about Hyde's past." She furrowed her brow "I know there's something odd about him but I cannot remember. Midare needs to find the culprit so I can get the key to my office back."

────── 〔✿〕──────

The painting was nearly finished. Half of the canvas was filled with color neatly fit in place to create what was almost a 1:1 picture of the station. However the sky was left uncolored with blobs of blue mixed with purple and orange. Midare was stuck on what kind of sky she wanted to create and by extension, the shadows she wanted to cast.

She lowered her brush smirking to herself for getting too invested in painting. Directing her attention elsewhere… what caught her eye was the vast empty area she now sat in. Not a single person in sight where as before she had people stop by to observe her technique and the work in progress but now she was truly alone. This was not ordinary.

She looked at the apartment building across the street, the window of Cherri's room where the curtains were closed but the telescope was still visible peeking out at the road. She didn't receive a report last night and hadn't seen the musketeer so she didn't have a measure for how empty the station was at certain times.

When Midare turned around she saw the young pink haired girl running towards her with bated breath and her hands painted gently with blood.

"M-miss Oryou!" She said in between gasps "This is bad! S-something bad happened!"

Whatever she saw very clearly traumatized her from the look of her eyes and trembling hands. Midare knew this look very well, the look of innocent adolescence stolen by the harsh realities of life. Children know that people die but when they come across death in their everyday lives then it affects them more than simply being told 'people die'. It was out of the ordinary, the possibilities of it happening to them so slight that they never think about it.

This girl was keeping herself together with every ounce of courage she had. Midare stepped past her "What happened?" A rhetorical question. She deduced the body was nearby given the blood on the girl's hand has yet to dry completely. Meaning that the murder occurred in daylight with the streets empty and no witnesses to tell.

The young girl followed anyway, closely behind Midare "O-over there! I saw a trail of blood that led to an alley."

Hurrying along, Midare found the trail she was looking for which led into an alley between two closed stores. The shadows were dark enough to hide the body left beside a dumpster. Whether or not the murderer intended to hide the body was a question but the young girl was lucky to not have been killed upon finding the crime scene.

Midare ventured forth as the young girl stayed behind. But she would halt immediately seeing who the victim was.

A wheelchair tossed aside and the body of Dulivale mangled like a ragdoll. Her arms split at the center up to the palm with her nerves and muscles partially spewing out. Her legs twisted and her leg bone stabbing through her skin. Dulivale's cardigan and dress shirt was ripped open revealing her naked chest, split with a deep scar in the center like someone was trying to tear into her heart.

Midare grew disgusted staring at the body any further. How could this have happened? Why did it have to be her? She felt a bit sentimental before those feelings vanished remembering that Dulivale worked alongside the Director. Petty grievances aside, Midare knew that the killer had to be the reason for the absence of civilians at the station. She took out her phone instinctively about to call Dulivale for police assistance but cursed under her breath. Instead, she called Levin to watch the body instead.

Midare then returned to the girl, and kneeled down to face her eye to eye. "Do you live around here?"

The young girl nodded. "I live in an orphanage but… I think some of the others are starting to run away because our caretaker abuses us."

Most likely they ran from home only to be killed just like Dulivale. Midare couldn't tell her that truth and she couldn't risk using this child any further in the investigation.

"There's a dormitory building on Shujin Avenue. Speak to the lady behind the desk and tell her I sent you."

Midare stood up and took a step past the young girl with her next destination being Cherri's room.

"W-wait!"

Midare stopped and turned to the girl as she stammered with her words for a bit. "The story about the grand fox and the lizard… does it really end like that? Did they ever become friends again? Was there any hope in the end?!"

She was desperately looking for any shreds of hope to grasp. A light in the dark, something to reassure herself that things will be okay. Deep down she must've known that the kids who ran from the orphanage were killed not by their owner but by something far more sinister; she refused to believe it, turning a blind eye to the state of the world.

"Foxes are omnivores and their diet includes both vegetables and small animals alike. This includes lizards. They were never going to get along." Midare left her with a sour ending that brought her to tears.

On the way to Cherri's room, Midare had the unfortunate displeasure of stumbling across the corpses of said children from the orphanage. She called for Syrup to retrieve the bodies while she continued onwards.

The hallway Cherri's room stood on was relatively normal but the same couldn't be said for her door which was bashed, chipped and broken at the hinges. Midare's light touch on the wooden door made it open by itself revealing an empty room.

It was left completely intact like Cherri just moved in but the telescope was left out. If Cherri was hurt by whatever was chasing her then it would've shown by there either being blood stains or the room in disarray from a struggle. If Cherri died then her body would be hidden somewhere she could fit.

Under the bed? Empty.

Closet? Empty.

If Cherri escaped then she would've returned to the cafe asap. Maybe she passed out along the way? Midare had to wait for Syrup's report to completely confirm that.

Midare couldn't waste any more time. Hopefully Ibuki had finished with her side of things. Though she would save the news about her sister's disappearance until things were confirmed.